LOCAL RESTAURANTS GETTING CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH IN ANNUAL COUNTY INSPECTIONS

Ann Elledge stepped through the Red Lobster walk-in freezer last week, clipboard in hand, her breath visible as she scrutinized the floor, the outflow fans and the entrees on stainless steel shelves. Time for another health inspection.

Though Kansas City diners have been shaken by the news of a backlog of restaurants behind on their health inspections, the Cape Girardeau County Health Department has enough manpower to meet their once-per-year required inspection schedule of county restaurants, officials say.

And if you don't believe it, says Charlotte Craig, director of the department, don't hesitate to check the records yourself.

Just before the Cape Girardeau Red Lobster opened for lunch Thursday, Elledge was completing the restaurant's inspection. As she toured the kitchen, the bar and the dining area, general manager Lonnie Griggs shadowed her.

"As soon as you walk through the door, you see their eyes and you know what the inspection is going to be like," Elledge said.

"The Health Department," Griggs said with a grin, "you know, they can be your best friend or your worst enemy."

Passed muster

The Health Department was more friend than foe to Red Lobster in this inspection. The restaurant faired well. The worst violation, of moderate severity, was untidy trash storage in the restaurant's exterior dumpster area. Elledge said the overall results were in the best 5 percent of restaurants of similar size. Kitchen surfaces were spotless and the cold storage kept perishables below 41 degrees.

Cape Girardeau County restaurants must be inspected at least once per year, Elledge said. Restaurants with a history of violations are placed on an accelerated list, she said, and can be inspected twice a year, quarterly or monthly.

With four health inspectors responsible for about 400 county restaurants, the required once-per-year routine inspection schedule is manageable, said Elledge.

A spot check of the inspection records in the Health Department Building on Linden Street supported Elledge's claim. Six restaurants chosen randomly by the Southeast Missourian -- Royal N'Orleans, Imperial Palace, Broussard's, Jimmy John's and the Broadway Burger King and McDonald's -- had all been inspected at least last year. Broussard's has been inspected this year. All passed inspection.

"The only time we ever had a backlog is when liquor licenses were due," Craig said. "But now we've changed that system, so we never have a backlog of restaurants."

All inspection records are open for public view at the Health Department during normal business hours, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The last Cape Girardeau County food poisoning outbreak -- three or more unrelated people suffering from the same illness -- occurred at a corporate party in 1990. Salmonella in the gravy.

Old food code in KC

But not all Missourians live in a region where the health department enjoys a full staff of health inspectors. The Associated Press reported that a recent Kansas City Star investigation discovered roughly 800 Kansas City food establishments that had not been inspected for at least a year -- even though city law requires an inspection once every six months. Health officials said the backlog was due to a shortage of inspectors and frequent staff turnover due to low pay.

The investigation also uncovered that the Kansas City food code was based on 1976 federal standards, which lack safety measures developed since then to prevent contamination by organisms such as salmonella and E. coli.

Last week, the Kansas City Health Department offered the city council the first revisions to the city food code in two decades, based on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 1999-model food code -- the most recent standard the federal agency has handed down to local health departments.

Elledge said the Cape Girardeau County Health Department implemented the 1999 model in October of that year. Local restaurants, though, are still becoming familiar with the new rules, she said -- the most common violation being that bare hands are no longer allowed to come into contact with ready-to-eat food. Tongs or plastic gloves or some other protective barrier are now required when serving dinner rolls, for example.

Need consume by' date

Another revision in the 1999 model is that refrigerated, ready-to-eat, potentially hazardous foods stored for more than 24 hours must be date-marked. These items must be marked by the "consume by" date, allowing seven days if stored at 41 degrees, or four days if stored at 45 degrees.

Also, new cooking temperature requirements are 155 degrees for ground beef and 145 degrees for pork, beef and fish.

Critical violations such as a sewage backup or a lack of electricity or water would result in the immediate closing of a food establishment until the problems are fixed, she said. The county Health Department closed two restaurants last year for critical violations. Elledge declined to name them.

Despite the millions of variables that could have gone wrong during the inspection of his restaurant, Red Lobster service manager Mark Luhring remained cool through the tour.

"It's more of a challenge than it's stressful," said Luhring. "I'm confident of our personnel and the safeguards that are in place."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.